THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 23, 1995 TAG: 9507210219
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Eric Feber
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
The congregation at Indian River Baptist Church on Laurel Avenue is proud of the new family that has taken up residence on the church's gravel parking lot.
The squatters are members of the Oxyechus vociferus family, commonly known as killdeers, small birds noted for their high piercing cry.
``They're medium-sized birds; I guess the same size of a robin, with yellow and brown colors,'' said Alice Folden, a church member.
Several members of the congregation found mama killdeer sitting in the middle of the parking lot on Sunday, July 9. They thought something was curious when they approached the bird.
``When you walk up and the bird just doesn't move away, there has to be a reason,'' said church secretary Nan Shows.
The reason for mama killdeer's reluctance to heed her natural instinct to scram: she's going to be a mother. There, lying smack dab in the middle of this lot, were four small eggs, the same light gray color as the surrounding gravel.
``You have to look very carefully to distinguish them from the rocks and gravel,'' Folden said. ``It's so unreal that a bird would lay eggs in a place like this.''
``It's a riot, the eggs are lying very carefully in the lot,'' Shows added.
At the urging of several parishioners, the church custodian placed two orange cones near the eggs and surrounded them with fencing to keep out predators. Despite these protections, both mom and dad still do their best to protect their potential children.
``If you walk up to her, she just goes nuts and chirps away,'' Shows said. ``And when the father is around he acts as if he's injured, flopping around to divert your attention.''
But the congregation is watching out for its new potential family, and mom is given fresh water each day in a used plastic container.
``We now kid each other about the new family to our congregation,'' Shows said.
``We're going to nurture them, we're going to hatch some Baptist birds,'' Folden said. ``Then we got to talking: we're Baptists, so when the baby birds hatch, should we baptize them or what?'' Java joint for seniors
The Light Crew, a group of outreach volunteers from the Unity Renaissance Church on Eden Way North, held a Coffee House entertainment evening for the residents of the Meadows Retirement Community on Rainbow Lane.
Led by master or ceremonies Dick Biondo and Light Crew leader Ed Ash, the group of about 30 performing volunteers offered the facility's residents an array of entertainment all accompanied by the piano work of Jane Larson, said Mary Jo Hallett, Meadows activity director.
Hallett said the Light Crew entertained a group of 35 residents. The acts included a comedian, three women dressed as the Andrews Sisters singing many of their '40s hits, humorous poetry readings, guitar and harmonica solos and a male quartet singing several spiritual and gospel songs.
But that wasn't all of the entertainment, Hallett said. Buoyed by the actions of The Light Crew, several of the residents got into the act.
Grace Dupree, who is legally blind, rendered the ``Tennessee Waltz'' on the piano; Elizabeth Ackiss, broke the place up with her jokes and deadpan delivery; Gladys Richter sang ``Let Me Call You Sweetheart''; Julia Steele sang the hymn ``He Touched Me''; and 92-year-old Mable Turner ``got all caught up in the spirit of the thing,'' Hallett said, and sang a rousing version of ``I'm Looking Over A Four Leaf Clover.''
``Her song just broke the place up,'' Hallett said. ``When she got up she told everyone, `May Jo shanghai-ed me into this,' and then got the best hand of the evening after the song.''
When the Coffee House was over the Light Crew didn't just dash away. They stayed longer to make friends with the residents and walk them back to their rooms. by CNB